Needham named CoSIDA Academic All-American
HOUGHTON, Mich. – Michigan Tech Nordic skier Anabel Needham has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team. Needham is a junior from Houghton, Michigan, and holds a 3.94 grade-point average in environmental engineering.
Needham was an NCAA First Team All-American in the 5K classic with the best finish by a Tech skier ever, placing fourth. She also placed 12th in the 15K skate to lead the Huskies to a fourth-place NCAA finish—the best in program history. Needham was an All-CCSA First Team skier for the second straight season. She had podium finishes in all but one of her CCSA races this season with wins in the classic and second in the skate on back-to-back weekends at Mt. Itasca and the MTU Invite.
Needham also performed on the world stage for Team USA at the 2022 U23 World Ski Championships in Norway. She qualified by winning the classic sprint at U.S. Nationals and getting third in the classic 10K individual. She was the NCAA Central Region and CCSA Individual Champion in the classic in 2021 while qualifying for her first NCAA Championship.
Needham also participates in cross country for the Huskies, running her fastest time at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship as Tech's third-ranked runner. She received academic honors on the National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team and the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team.
The Academic All-America® women's at-large teams are selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2021-22 Division II Academic All-America® program.